


The Human Apocalypse

by Eve Annajane (beware_of_fangirling)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Acceptance, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Science Fiction, Survival, energy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-01 03:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4003726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beware_of_fangirling/pseuds/Eve%20Annajane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fiction: Humans evolved from apes</p>
<p>Fact: The humans were not the first to inhabit Earth</p>
<p>The human race is sending probes out into space to look for alien life forms. The humans are the aliens. Your scientists have it all wrong. Your government is lying to you. Your race is hiding every thing. </p>
<p>Ana is just a normal girl... except for the fact that she is an alien who can control energy on the run from a secret government association of hunters with a computer genius and a somewhat homicidal bitch. But other than that she's completely average.</p>
<p>Ana has spent the majority of her life looking for others of her kind and a place to call home. On her way, she will befriend two orphans with a dark past, encounter murderous hunters out to kill her just for being born and get pulled into an all-out war that will pit humans and aliens against themselves and each other.</p>
<p>In a story about survival, acceptance and family, Ana is no chosen one. She just made a choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is an original work. All characters, events, etc. belong to me, Evie Annajane. This book is a standalone novel with 20 chapters planned. The next 10 chapters can be found on Wattpad under my account: eaj_books. 
> 
> Kudo, commemt, bookmark, share!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Prologue Part 1: The Human Apocalypse**

The humans think no aliens have ever landed on Earth, much less invaded. They dont know how wrong they are. Aliens did land here, very long ago. Modern writing didn't even exist yet so there is no record of the landing, much less the invasion. These aliens preformed experiments, trying to genetically engineer themselves into the perfect species. They abducted the ones who were already on Earth before they came. If anyone fought against them, they were killed. These invaders did not care about anyone but themselves. They were brutal and ruthless... But back to the story.

Soon, the experiments went out of control. There were terrible mutations, but the aliens wouldn't stop. While some aliens continued despite the problems, others decided to use plants instead. These experiments also had their complications. While they were perfectly healthy to the invaders, they were fatal to the natives of Earth. It was hard to avoid consuming whatever bacteria made these plants so poisonous to the natives because it traveled through the air. The original inhabitants of Earth were dropping like flies. Only about 100 rare natives were immune to the bacteria.

It was around the time when there were only about 200 natives left when the live experiments finally came back to bite everyone. The lab rats broke free and rampaged in endless rage. They destroyed all civilization the invaders built. You might think this was good for the natives, but these mutant beasts killed many of them too. The population was down to less than 50. These beasts came in all shapes and sizes and colors. They might have a long neck, or spikes on their back, or even little tiny arms with great giant heads. They displayed scales and feathers of all colors. Finally, they were gone, who knows how, I was born after that.

Both races, native and alien, survived but the invaders had devolved. They were hairy and brutish. Over the centuries they grew into a strong race again. They named themselves the Homo Sapien Sapiens. That's right. Before the first African- American president, before Columbus sailed to America, even before the first people traveled from modern-day Australia, the apocalypse came. The Human Apocalypse.

**Prologue Part 2: Hello My Name Is...**

In case you didn't catch on by now, the humans were not the first ones to inhabit Earth. We came first. Our race is called the Ephogians which means Energizers. We were a special race. We could use the

energy around us and bend it to our will to influence our world. Okay, so maybe that was a teensy bit dramatic. But no, it is not magic and this isn't a fairy tale. And we are not evil.

Humans look like us, but we came first. The only major difference is the eyes. Yes, eyes. We don't have tentacles, or slimy green skin. Our society was organized, peaceful. There was no poverty, no war. Yes we had our problems but what race doesn't? Certainly not yours. But then the humans came and flushed all the hardwork it took to get us where we were down the poop hole. Rude. You destroyed us. And all for nothing. Everything you ever tried backfired on everyone, human or not. So in the end, you tore down our world to build your own, and then that crashed and burned too. In case you haven't noticed, I don't like you very much.

A few of us survived the Human Apocalypse, but there are even fewer of us left now. Yes we tried to build ourselves back up again. We failed however, for your kind make it their mission to hunt us down and keep the entire planet to themselves. There are organizations across the globe that focus solely on exterminating our kind. Add that to the long list of things your government hasn't told you.

Now that our world history lesson is over, a little about moi. My name is Añakatna, which means Warrior. And I'm not any thing special. I wasn't born with extra special powers, I'm not royalty, and I'm not any sort of "Chosen One". My family's history us long and quite frankly boring. So no, I'm wasn't born special. It was my choices that made me important. It's a long story so buckle down, because your about to hear it.


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short look at one of the pivotal moment's in Ana's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read through chapter 10 on Wattpad!

It was a Tuesday when they found us. I was only 10 years old. Our group consisted of me, my mom, my dad, my little brother and me, along with another two families. The adults were out raiding a gas station we came across. Alcent was the oldest of our group at 15 so he was watching us. One of the other moms came running back, tears rushing down her face as she yelled at us to run. So we did.

I grabbed my younger brother and ran with the other kids. There were seven of us. Six kept running. Alecnt went the other way, determined to help our parents. I passed my brother to another of our group and took off after him. I had always been the fastest so it did not take long for me to catch up to him. By then we had both reached the gas station. It was quite a sight. The windows were all broken and dead bodies littered the ground. I saw my parents, but their death didn't quite register at the moment. A few humans were dead too, so at least we put up a fight. I figured that we were along. That is, until I heard a gunshot.

Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. Alecnt's eyes glazed over and his mouth hung agape as a red hole appeared between his eyes. He dropped to the ground with an audible thud. I saw the human behind him. He couldn't have been much older than Alecnt, clad in a black uniform with the signature of their organization embroidered on the right sleeve, a gold eye with a tear of blood. Dramatic right?

He hesitated when he saw me. I must have been quite a sight with the look of pure shock and loss on my face. I guess it was this that stopped him. He must have never expected us to feel anything close to emotions. Idiots.

Everything set in after that. He had just killed my friend. He showed me my first death. I lost it. I always had a very short temper, and he just pushed me over. My eyes glazed over with black mist as energy the same color shot out of my hands and hit him straight in the chest. That was it for him. Little did I know, that was it for me too.

I curled up in a ball on the floor between my first death and my first kill. I didn't cry. I was too numb inside. I expected sadness or guilt or regret. None of those came. I didn't know what to feel. After what felt like ages I got up. I knew the rest of my group was long gone. Moving robotically, I pilled the dead bodies into two piles, humans and Ephogians. The humans I left to rot. The Ephogians I burned. Not in a bad way, though. It was customary for a Ephogian body to be burned after death.

It came then. It came as I stood there looking at the flames that burned different colors for the different energies. Like before it wasn't remorse, or regret, or lonlieness. It was something much scarier. It came when stronger when I turned and saw the mound of dead humans. It came as I vowed to avenge my family, my race. Satisfaction.


	3. Chapter 2: More the Merrier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana makes an uneasy alliance with a computer genius his homicidal bitch of a sister.

A lot happened between then and now. Boring stuff. I figured the best way to find more of my kind was to run and keep running. Eventually I would find more of my kind, right? There had to be more Ephogians out there somewhere. All I had to do was keep moving and I would find them. So I moved. A lot. I was never in the same place for a long time, hopping from town to town, staying at crappy motels as I searched the news for signs of Ephogians. Freak accidents, flashes of colored light, anything that could be more of us.

Thats what I was doing when I met them. I'm fifteen, staying at a bed and breakfast in the middle of some small Ohio town I honestly don't care enough to remember the name of. I was on my way to the sight of a weird death. A guy was found dead at an abandoned building with a black mark in the center of his chest. Eh, eh? The kicker: he was part of a group of known Ephogian hunters. I was staying the night in town to refuel and rest before heading out tomorrow.

I left the room, locking the door behind me as I turned to walk away. I swiveled around and almost smacked into the face of Mr. PoutyPants, a.k.a. the owner of the B&B. He stared down at me, his bony and saggy face twisted into a scowl. I tried not to meet his eyes. The special contacts I wore were good enough to mask my real eyes and let me pass as human, but someone could still see past them if they were close enough. The doctor who made them and shipped them out to Ephogians under a pharmacy brand of painkillers was working to advance them, but money is tight when your a human allied undercover with Ephogians.

"Young girl, where are your parents? You said when you checked in that they would be coming shortly. Are they here yet?"

My eyes widened before I spout out the first flawless lie that came to mind. Please register the sarcasm. "Their flight was delayed. They're coming tomorrow."

He gave a curt nod and let me pass. Whew, close one. I tried not to rush down the hall, but as soon as I was out of sight I broke into a sprint, only slowing when I left the building and was hit with a wall of cool air.The street was mostly deserted, but a few people were walking along. I turned right and kept going until I reached the small diner I saw on my way in. It was crowded, so I ordered a burger to go. As I waited, I could hear the news playing on a small corner TV. The guy was talking about some new civil rights act. Humans, what a bunch of hypocrites.

I took my food and left, but stopped in my tracks out the door. There was a rustling from the alley next to the diner. I pressed my back to the wall and listened to what was going on. I could hear skin clashing on skin aggressively and someone yelling at the other. They sounded drunk out of their minds. Glass shattered and the drunk mans footsteps retreated into the diner, accompanied by incoherent mumbling all the way.

When I peeked around the corner, I could vaguely distinguish the outline of a boy probably a bit older than me. He was on his knees in the alley. I slowly approached and as I did the scene became clearer. The guy in the middle of the alley had blood all over himself and was dripping with beer. He just sat there for a few moments, breathing heavily, before he got up. Tried to anyway, he staggered against the wall and dropped down to his bloody knees again. I ran over to help him up and he looked at me blearily.

"Lily?" His voice was think and pained, but also confused. He must have been delirious.

"I'm not Lily."

He slumped against the wall and I leaned in front of him on my knees. "Who are you?"

I was about to answer when a small girl came running around the corner. She was petite, but pretty, with long blonde hair and fair skin making her blue eyes pop.

"Nate! Oh, God, Nate. Are you okay? I told you not to come here, the owner's a drunk!" She was hysterical, checking his wounds, seeming not to notice me.

"Lily, it's okay, I'm fine." He grabbed her wrists and held them together with one hand.

"Sure you are. Come on Nate, your a mess." She finally turned to me. The expected words of gratitude were not what came from her mouth. "Why didn't you stop that man?! You just let my brother get beat up! I hope your proud of yourself," she spat. I was too stunned to reply.

"Lily, calm down. It wasn't her problem." Nate, her brother apparently, defended me.

"Oh, that doesn't excuse her. Any decent person would have helped. She could have shot him with some of her freaky energy bending thingie or something, anything!"

Wait... WHAT?!?!

Lily seemed to realize her mistake. She snapped her mouth shut as Nate's eyes widened. They both looked at me timidly to gauge my reaction, which had not come yet since I was in shock.

"You know?" My face was a blank sheet while they were both very nervous.

"Lily and I were trained to identify Ephogians at a young age," Nate answered quietly.

I stood up slowly and started to back away, ready to defend myself if necessary. "Are your parents hunters?"

Lily scoffed and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "No. Quite the opposite. They were allies of the Ephogians."

"Oh," I said relaxing. "So you'll help me get out of here safely?"

She looked incredulous. "Excuse me?"

"Allies usually help Ephogians with safe passage." What was her problem?

Another scoff. "Allies also usually go two ways. Did you help Nate? No. We may not kill you, but your on your own."

I gaped at her. Okay. Fine. If that was how she wanted to play it. "I'll make you a deal. I will heal your brother in exchange for your help. Sounds fair?"

She eyed me skeptically before turning to Nate. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them before Nate turned to me and Lily looked away, obviously unhappy.

"Deal."

I smiled and nodded. As I was reaching out to heal him, Lily grabbed my hand and pulled me to a hasty halt.

"If you hurt my brother I will kill you, deal or no."

Did this girl honestly think I would break the deal? I needed to get out of here safely. I nodded my acknowledgement and she reluctantly let me do my thing.

I placed my hand on his chest and focused all my energy on healing him. I felt the all too familiar tingle that came with using my powers. People think that Energizing as it's called is as simple as making something happen. It's not. You have to have motivation. Powers are linked directly to emotions, which is why they can both be hard to control at times. I wanted to heal, to help, so I had to focus on a good memory. There weren't many, but the one I always used came almost instinctively.

I was running through the forest as a mere child again, before they came for us. My dad scooped me up and lifted me high up in the air, spinning and throwing me slightly as he always did. The warm feeling that came with using the healing energy filled me from my toes to my ears, making me feel content and stated.

My eyes were closed, but if they were open I knew what they would see. Delicate lavender mist creeping from my finger tips and wrapping around Nate, leaving the scent of warm apples and something else that was very indisticnt and unique, my personal "power scent" as it's called.

I could feel Nate's pain through the energy, lessening as I healed him. Eventually he was all okay. The tendrils of soft energy retreated back into my fingertips. As my eyes flitted open, I saw Hunter staring down at his chest in amazement. Lily's face was still hard and tight, but I saw a but of wonder behind the hard mask of her eyes.

"Okay," Lily said after taking a deep breath through her nose. "Let's go. We can get you on a train heading somewhere, the conductor is a friend of ours. He won't charge you.The next time is probably-"

"Wait, I need to get my stuff. It's back at the motel."

"How important is it?" Geez, could she sound any more annoyed?

"It's all my stuff. Clothes, contacts,money. I need it. Is it such a big deal to go back?"

This was when Nate cut in. "It's fine. We can get your stuff. Right, Lily?"

"Fine, but if shit hits the fan, I'm saying I told you so."

"Works for me. Let's go."

The walk was silent.

We made it to the motel without any problems. We didn't even run into the owner on our way in, entering my room easily.That's when shit hit the fan. Should have seen that one coming. A group if a dozen or so greeted us in my room, dressed in the uniform of hunters and armed to the teeth. Mr. PP was there too, smirking his face off. 

"Hello again," He started as the men grabbed us. Forcing me to my knees and pressing Lily and Nate against the back wall, they tied a rope around my wrists. Rope, one of the most accessible everyday tools what will melt an Ephogian's skin off if they try to use their powers. Talk about rope burn. Yipp-freaking-ee. Mr. PP continued. "Did you really think I would buy your flimsy excuse and poorly made contacts? I had the hunters on the phone as soon as you left. They'll be taking you now."

"Where?" The guy holding my shoulder and pointing a gun to my head growled when I spoke, but Mr. PP ignored him.

"To an experimental lab, your grave, I don't know. All I care about is the fact that I'm getting a reward." He turned to address on of the hunters. "Speaking of which, you said I would be paid when you got the girl. You have her, so where is my money?"

A hunter standing next to me spoke up. "Number 4, give him his cash." Oh yeah, I forgot they used numbers as code names. That guy must be the leader, numero uno. 

Another guy, Number 4 I guess, reached down to his belt and grasped for something to his left side. When he didn't reach it automatically, he looked down, before fumbling around his waist and chest. Apparently, whatever he was looking for was missing. "Sir, it's gone." 

Number 1 growled and stalked towards him. "What do you mean gone?" 

I glanced over and saw a brown pouch hidden behind Lily's back. I kept a straight face, but inside I was jumping for joy. Praise god for conniving pickpockets. Nate saw it too, and caught my eye. While Number 1 screamed at 4, Nate drew a gun from the person next to him, who had a 7 stitched on his sleeve. The hunters and Mr. PP were distracted with the missing money, it was now or never. I nodded minutely to Nate. Game time. 

In one swift movement I stood and lifted my tied hands on the air. Nate fired once, the bullet slicing through the rope and lodging itself in my guard, number 9, but only his shoulder. I fired a bolt of red energy at him to put him out of commission. Red, the color of harm. Not enough to kill someone, that's black. I've only used that once. The familiar painless burn of the energy left my hand. Unlike healing energy, there was nothing delicate of soft about this. It was practically a red dagger slicing through the air and hitting the guard in the chest, rendering him unconscious and sailing towards the ground. This all happened in a matter of seconds, but everyone's eyes were on us now. Lily pulled a gun from the holster of her guard and fired off three rounds, all direct head shots, killing three people instantly. 

The rest was a blur. Hunters were firing at us, I was sending bolts of red at their chests, Nate was lodging bullets in their shoulders, and Lily was straight up killing them. At one point I remember a bullet sailing at Nate's back, and I sent a shot of protective yellow energy at the piece of metal, destroying it in the air. Lily shot Mr. PP in the head as he tried to escape. It felt like ages, but the fight was over in less than a minute. The three of us stood panting in the mess of black-clad bodies. We looked around and at each other and without any words, I think we all knew that I wouldn't be leaving this town alone.The siblings made their way over to me and we stood there, Nate on my left and Lily on the right. Nate was the first to speak, not even looking away from the bodies.

"What's your name?"

I let out a breathy chuckle. "Ana. Nice to meet you."

Lily spoke this time. "Nice to meet you too, Ana. I freaking told you so."


	4. Chapter 3: On the Road to Nonsense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana, Nate and Lily make a startling discovery when they chase a lead.

"Nice to meet you too, Ana. I freaking told you so."   

I rolled my eyes in Lily's direction. "We don't have much time. Somebody must have sent for backup or there are others waiting for them to return, something. We have to get out of here, and fast." My duffle bag was still fully packed on the dresser. As I put it away, Lily went to look out the door while Nate checked the windows.   

"I'm surprised no one heard the gunshots and went screaming for the cops," Nate mused.  

Lily spoke up from where she had wandered into the hallway. "They were all too dead."   

I had finished packing so we left to join her in the hall. She had opened the door to another room and found the residents lying on the floor. Their throats were all slit. A few more peaks behind closed doors revealed that everyone in the motel got the same treatment.   

"This is because of me. If I didn't come here they would all still be alive."  

"Probably." Lily came to stand next to me.  

"You're not the best at pep-talks," I murmured.  

She moved to stand I front of me, effectively blocking my view of the dead bodies. "I don't have to be. They probably would still be alive if you didn't come. But you did and they're not so deal. Don't let it stop you and don't let it stay with you. Unless you could somehow bring them back, which you can't, they're dead and staying dead and it's not your fault because you didn't kill them. It's the hunters and it's life and it sucks but that's how it works so, again, deal." She left after that, striding down the hall and leaving me with Nate.   

"She's quite the optimist." I snorted at Nate's comment. "She's right, though. It's not your fault. The hunters killed them, just like they would have killed all of us."   

I nodded half-heatedly, turning back to the room where my bags were surrounded by dead hunters. Something about the bodies caught my eye. They were almost completely covered in black with not a millimeter of skin visible. However, one of the sleeves on a hunter had risen up to reveal a thin strip of skin. His hand looked normal, but when I bent down to inspect it closer, I realized that there was a tattoo on his wrist of an Ephogian's eye. It had the same gold hue flecks of red energy were here and there. It wouldn't have been that wierd, the hunter symbol is an Ephogian eye crying. However, this one was of a dry eye, and it stared angry up at me, defient,  hungry for revenge. It was unnerving to say the least.  

"Ana?" I jumped slightly when Nate spoke up from behind me, standing quickly. "You ready?"  

"Yeah, of course, yeah," I mumbled. It meant nothing, the tattoo that is. Absolutely nothing.  

\+ + + + + + + + + +  

We left shortly after, Lily talking her way past the conductor until he let us onto the train as his 'special guests'. The only condition was that we had to sit in one of the cargo cars, which was actually an improvement from my previous modes of transport, such as stolen cars or, you know, feet. Lily was lounged out on the floor twirling a Swiss Army Knife while Hunter fiddled around with a handful of items from the floor. Me, well I was still thinking about that tattoo. Why would a hunter have a tattoo that sent a clear message that he was on the side of the Ephogians? If he was an undercover ally, it was really dangerous to wear something like that permanently in your skin around so many hunters, almost too dangerous.  

"Hey, Nate." He looked over at me, and Lily glanced my way too. Those two really were a package deal.  

"Yeah?"  

"Did your parents ever wear anything to symbolize that they were Ephogian allies?"  

Lily snorted. "Are you kidding? That would have been suicide."  

"Why?" Nate had abandoned the objects in his hands which I now recognized as small gears.  

"Just curious."  

Nate and Lily shared a look, clearly not convinced, before Nate returned his attention to me. "Where are we going anyway?"  

"Small town guy from Pennsylvania was killed recently. He was a hunter, and a pretty good one too. There was a black energy scortch on his chest, according to the news. I was hoping to track down whoever it was. Maybe they know where other refugees are."  

"Did you check to see what direction they're heading?" NAte had moved over to sit between me and Lily so we were an elongated triangle.  

I shoke my head. "The police tend to like to keep this sort of thing quiet, since none of them really know what this sort of thing is. I wouldn't doubt if the federal hunter groups paid them to keep it from leaking. That was the first report to show up in months."  

Nate thought for a bit before his face it up with an idea. My eyebrows shot up when Lily groaned and rolled her eyes, smiling a bit in amusement. Nate turned to me and asked, "Can I borrow your computer?"

"Yeah..." I was a bit skeptical, but I still pulled my laptop from its bag and handed it to Nate.

He immediatly started tapping away at various keys, concentration hard as his eyes scanned the screen.  I looked to Lily with a raised brow.

"Don't look at me. He's the brains, I'm the brawn." 

"Here, look at this. Police reports show that there have been  _five_ other killings just in the past month with the same MO."

"Which direction?" Lily peered over his shoulder as he tapped out a few more lines.

"That's the wired part. They're all in the same location, they're not traveling. Let me check something." We waited for a few seconds before he turned the computer towards up. There was a map of the United States with red dots minimally grouped among the states. There was a group in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, even some in Nevada, South Dakota and Michigan. "These dots represent the killings that seem to be done by Ephogians, but they're not traveling. It seems like there are people of your kind killing any hunters they come across."

"Did you hack into a federal database?"

He looked almost offended. "That's your takeaway?"

"Just saying, nice going Smoak."

His brows furrowed before he turned back to his computer. "Let me check up on something."

I asked as he worked, "How are you even getting signal?"

Lily answered, as Nate was too engrossed in his hacking. "He gets it off the closest staillite. We should have signal for another few minutes before he has to start over."

So that's how the Winchesters do it.

 "Got it. I ran the names of the victims through the government-officail hunter database. They were all hunters who were off-duty at the time of their death."

"So?"

Lily's face lit up in understanding. "The hunters didn't attack the Ephogians. The Ephogians attacked the hunters."

"How many killings national?"

"Almost twenty."

My mind drifted back to the strange tattoo. "Any similarities between victims. You know, besides the hunting?"

Nate gave me a curious look that I dissmissed with a shrug,  but he started tapping nonetheless.

"Nope, sorry." 

Well that complicated things. Unless it was just a random, meaningless tattoo, in which case it simplified things, but that was unlikely.

"Okay, that's good. Where is the closest body to us?"

Nate scanned the page. "It's only another few hours by train, but it is being moved in the morning via armored truck to the closest docks. It looks like they're going to dump it, or ship it someplace, who knows."

"Can we get there in time?" Lily had gotten up by now and was pacing the floor.

"Uh, if we're lucky, we can get there just before the truck is schedualed to leave with the body."

"And if we're not lucky?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"It's bye bye birdie. All of the bodies still in mourges acroos the country are being shipped off at the same time tomorrow. If we miss this, we are going to have to wait until another body dropps who knows when, and it could be on the otherside of the country."

"Let's hope luck is on our side then," I murmmered.

Lily mummbled under her breath, "Yeah, because that is a common occurance."

\+ + + + + + + + + +

We arrived at the mourge where the body was being held before dawn broke. The truck was already there, and for a split second there was the terrifying notion that we were too late, but the body bag was still lying on the open truck bed while two black-clad people- presumably hunters- were deep in conversation.

We hid behind a row of bushes, how cliche. 

Nate turned to me and spoke in a low whisper, "How long do you need to see the body for?"

"Only a second to get the energy signiture of whoever did this."

"We need to get the gaurds away," Lily hissed.

Nate smirked and pulled out his phone. "I got this." He pressed a few buttons and alarms blared from inside the building.

We could hear the gaurds turn to look. "You go check it out," one of them said. "I'll stay here."

"Damnit. We have got to get that one to leave," I whispered harshly.

"Leave that to me," Lily said as she pulled out her knife and stood up. Predictably, the gaurd turned at the movement, but Lily had thrown her knife so it sunk into his chest before he had even completed the pivot.

"Lily!"

"Shut up, I boupght you time, but it's running out, let's go."

The three of us ran over to the car. I climbed in while Nate and Lily stayed outside to keep watch. I placed my hands on the bodies head to locate the energy signature of its killer, but something was off, like, majorly off. With a wild guess and an uneasy stomach, I opened the victim's eys and everything froze. 

"Ana! What's taking so long?!"

I turned to face them. "The victim is an Ephogian."


	5. Chapter 4: What-the, who-the, why-the, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana, Nate and Lily contemplate the new information they have come across and plan where to go next.

I stared at Lily and Nate's dumbstruck faces. 

"Are you sure?" Nate moved closer to the truck but Lily stayed where she was, warily moving her head between us and the exit in case the guards came back out. 

"Positive. Look at the eyes," I said, moving over to let him see.

Nate sighed. "You're right. Nothing has gold eyes like that but Ephogians. What does it mean? You know, an Ephogian killing another Ephogian."

"It means that things just got a lot more complicated," I huffed.

My mind was racing. I was positive that the killer was an Ephogian, there was no doubt, but why? Why would an Ephogian target another Ephogian? It didn't make any sense. There were few of us to begin with, it is unreasonable to kill one of our own. Were the other victims Ephogians? If so, why were they all hunters?

"Ana!" Lily's sharp bark snapped me out of my thoughts. "We've got to go! The hunters will be out any minute."

"What about-"

"Whatever it is, you can think about it later." She grabbed my arm and pulled me down from the truck. Nate followed easily and we made our way quickly off the base. We made it around the corner of the building just as the guards came back out. Ahhh, plot convenience, you wonderful thing. 

We followed Lily sprinting through the tree line and into the forest behind the base. Once far enough away that they would no be able to see or hear us, we slowed down to a stop by a large oak tree.

"How...," I panted, "Do we... Get away from... here?" I was really wacked out of shape. 

Lily arched an eyebrow at me, not a trace of labor in her breathing. Nate was in similar condition. I rolled my eyes at them. Sorry not everyone is an endurance star like these two apparently are.

"We'll have to walk until we reach a highway," Lily started.

"Then we walk more. Hitchhiking is too dangerous," Nate continued.

"Then we find a place to crash and eat," I finished. My stomach rumbled on cue and I smiled fondly at it, thankful for its incredible timing.

Lily gave a sharp nod. "Nate, where is the nearest highway?"

"There is one parallel to the train-tracks, but  on the other side of the base. We ran in the opposite direction of where we came from so we should reach the highway if we just walk straight."

Lily started walking without a word and Nate followed easily. Not too hard to figure out who gave the orders with those two. I fell into step next to Nate while Lily stayed a few paces ahead of us. 

"She's not very friendly," I stage whispered. 

"I can hear you," Lily called back.

"Well I would hope so. I'm not exactly being very quiet."

She ignored that. 

"What's your problem with me anyway?"

That really got a rise out of her. She whirled on me and stalked closer until she was only a few inches away. "My problem? My problem is that you have almost gotten us killed or captured twice in one day. And for what?!"

"To find more of my kind!"

"And what then?! Huh? What about us? Nate and I, we won't be able to stay, we'll be outcasts! And then where do we go? We were living off the streets before you came! We have no home to go back to!"

"You helped me, you'll be able to stay."

"I have learned from experience that not all Ephogians take kindly to humans," she spat.

"They will for you guys. Your parents were allies," I reasoned.

Lily quieted suddenly, taking a step back from me. "That never stopped anyone before."

She turned around and kept walking towards the highway. 

Nate approached me from where he had moved while Lily yelled at me. "Just leave her be for a bit," he warned. "I can clam her but she'll explode on you for just about anything."

We walked behind her in silence for a bit before I finally spoke up, unable to hold my tongue. "What did she mean?"

"Which part?"

"You know which part." Silence. He was avoiding my questions. "The part about your parents."

He hesitated, obviously reluctant to say anything. "It's not important. Past in the past and all that. I shouldn't tell you, Lily would kick my ass. She'll open up when she's ready."

"Why does she have to be the one to tell me? It's your past too right?"

"Yes," he sighed, "but she has always hated talking about it, and, no offense, but you're still sort of a stranger to us. She has some trust issues, especially when it comes to the past. I don't want to be just another person who betrayed her."

I nodded, not entirely understanding but I knew he was right. "Do you think you guys coming along was a mistake?"

He thought about it for a while but eventually shook his head. "Lily and I were living off the streets, stealing food, and sleeping in alleyways. We had no purpose and truth be told we were just wasting away. It was only a matter of time before we died or were arrested. Now we have something to do again and it feels really good."

"Even the whole almost dying part?" 

"Even that part. Plus, our parents would have been proud of us helping an Ephogain, a nice one anyways." He thought for a minute before saying, "If it even matters, I know Lily doesn't think it was a mistake either."

"She could have fooled me."

"She has always been better at that then actually facing her emotions. For such a risky person, she can be a real coward sometimes." He stopped walking and added, "Don't tell her I said that."

I laughed. "I won't. I think she sort of tunes out most of what I say anyway."

"She does that a lot."

>>>>><<<<<

"Do you think any of this is actually real meat?"

We had eventually found the highway and walked until we hit a road-stop, where we were now. With a few dollar bills I was able to create, we had bought what they were passing off as 'burgers' and sat down in a dirty booth to eat. 

"Not in the slightest," Nate replied from in front of me, staring at his 'food' in disgust. Lily sat next to him staring out the window as cars flew by. She had already finished her 'food' and still wasn't talking to me.

Nate continued, "Where to next?"

"i have no idea," I sighed, dropping the 'burger' onto the wrapper I was using as a plate. "All the bodies I had found were shipped off already. We can't just wait for another to drop."

"Do you think the other victims were Ephogians?"

"i don't know, but if they were, things are much more complicated."

My laptop dinged, and Nate pulled it out of  _his_ bag. 

"No, don't worry, just keep it," I murmured.

"Thanks."

I rolled my eyes, but he was too busy reading whatever was on the screen to notice.

"Check this out. Earlier, I set up a system to alert me if any messages pass to or from the executive office of the hunter organization. An email just came in from one of the bases where a body was shipped from. It says that another victim was found, apparently killed by an Ephogian. It doesn't say about the victim."

" _That_ is where to next. I can get the energy signature of the killer and track them down."

"Didn't you do that with the last killer?"

"I was caught off guard by the victim being an Ephogian and didn't have time," I explained, looking down.

"It's fine," Nate reassured me. "We can head out tomorrow. Tonight, though, we sleep. I'm exhausted. I asked the man up front when we got our food and he said there is a motel just a mile down the road."

"Sounds good. Where exactly are we going though?"

"Vegas."


	6. Chapter 5: Are We There Yet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the trio travels to Las Vegas, new information is uncovered about Nate and Lily.

"Get off my foot!"

"I'm not on your foot!"

"Yes you-"

"Will the both of you just shut up? You're going to get us caught," Nate whisper-hissed at me and Lily. I rolled my eyes, even though he wouldn't be able to see in the dark. Cold metal pressed against my cheek and every time we went over a bump I hit my head on the ceiling.

Where were we? Oh, yeah, we were in the closed, cramped, dark bed of a rusty old pick-up truck that smelled like skunks and beer. And why were we in this predicament instead of a comfy-ish bus? Because, according to Captain Stick-Up-the-Ass, it would be 'too dangerous' and we 'didn't have money'.

"It smells in here," I complained.

Lily chuckled a bit. "Sorry."

"Gross!" I covered my nose with my hand while Nate groaned and buried his face in his shoulder.

"What, we've been in here for hours. I had too," she said, but it didn't quite feel like she was

"I am sitting right behind you!"

"Was that supposed to be a deterrent?"

I groaned but the sound was cut short when the car screeched to a halt. The three of us went tumbling backwards to the end of the bed and I ended up sandwiched in the middle of Nate and Lily.

"Crap, he heard us," I whispered under my breath, but Nate clamped a hand over my mouth.

There was the sound of the car door opening and heavy footsteps walking around to the back. Lily, who was closest to the 'door' tensed up in preparation for an attack. As soon as the bed was opened, light flooded in and blinded me. I didn't see exactly what happened next, but when I regained my vision, Lily was brushing off dust from her jacket and the driver was laying by the wheel, bleeding from a head wound.

I clambered out into the fresh air, and stared incredulously between the body and her. "What did you do?"

She shrugged and explained, "He's just knocked out. He probably won't suffer and serious head trauma. I just banged him on the edge once or twice. He'll be fine. Let's go, I’ve got his keys."

"We can't just leave him here!"

She pouted like a confused puppy. "Why not?"

I glared at her. Finally she huffed and said, "Fine."

A few minutes later, as we sat on the bench seat in the truck with Nate at the wheel and me by the window, Lily blurted out into the silence, "I still think we should have just rolled him out onto the road instead of sticking him in the trunk. A car would have come by, stopped, picked him up, and driven him to a hospital."

"Or," I said slowly, "it would have hit him."

"Yes, and then it would have stopped, picked him up, and driven him to a hospital."

I roll my eyes so hard there is a statistically probably chance that they will get stuck in the back of my head. I look across her to where Nate has his eyes firmly fixed on the road, honing his skill of ignoring the two of us. That would come in handy down the road. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"We just passed a mile-marker, but we're not very close. It'll probably take a full night of driving."

"I can switch out with you in a couple hours," Lily suggested. "You can sleep then."

"Thanks," he mumbled. "Try not to crash us."

Lily looked utterly offended. "It was one time! Let it go, no one likes a grudge-holder."

"Coming from the girl who still brings up me throwing into the woods a rock you were keeping as a pet _seven years ago_ ," he countered.

I stared at her blankly. "You had a pet rock?"

 **> >>>><<<<<** 

By midnight, Lily was at the wheel and Nate was slumped against the passenger door, fast asleep. I saw Lily blink heavily a few times, fighting off sleep.

"I can drive for a bit if you want," I suggested quietly.

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "What does the right pedal do?"

I racked my brain and came up with nothing, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. "I makes you stop?"

"And that is why you are not going to be driving us anywhere in the near future. Or even the far future."

"Come on, you look like your about to fall asleep at the wheel."

"You're not driving, Ana. If you want me to stay awake, keep talking. The annoying drone of it will keep me conscious," she deadpanned.

I smiled evilly out of the corner of my mouth. Taking a deep breath I started, "Ninety-nine bottles of pop on the wall-"

"I will end you."

I snickered, but quieted. After a few minutes of silence, I came up with a new topic. "What happened between your parents and the Ephogians?"

She started and swerved. Once having regained control of the car she looked at me and said in a low voice, "That's not something I want to talk about."

"Good, then it will keep you up."

She breathed deeply and glanced at me. "You really want to know?"

I nodded solemnly.

"Fine then." She took another deep breath and began, keeping her eyes firmly on the road. "As you know, my parents were allies to your kind. They had been helping them for years. They would provide transport, help distribute those fancy contacts you use to disguise yourselves, and even traveled with some groups for short periods of time. They were ally’s years before Nate was born and they had trained both of us since we were five. It was actually really fun. I mean, what kid doesn't imagine they are something more than ordinary, that they had some purpose in this world. We did. We were always supposed to grow up to be allies, it was what was wanted of us and it was what we wanted.

"About three years back we were housing a group of 3. They were only staying for one night before my parents hitched them a ride out of town at dawn. Around two in the morning, a group of guys broke into our house and found them in the basement. Nate was out getting food for them on their travels, but my parents and I were in the basement too. They just bust in. It was like something out of a movie. Everyone was freaking out. They were dressed all in black but they weren't hunters. They were Ephogians, part of some weird army or something.

"They killed my parents first. They were dead the second the black energy hit their chests. I hid, and pretty damn well I guess, because they didn't see me, or else I wouldn't be here. The three Ephogians that we were housing seemed so confused. When they asked why the weirdoes killed their allies they said that no humans should have contact with Ephogians, that you guys were so much better than us that not even allies could be seen as worthy of life. They killed the others two. When they did, they said this weird thing, something I never forgot. They said 'Let us reap the impure, in His name and the name of all that is gold.' I have no idea who they were talking about, but I honestly doubt it was God. From what I've heard you people aren't really the religious type."

I was quiet for a minute, processing it all. "I'm sorry," I whispered, but she cut me off fiercely.

"You wanted to know why I didn't trust you, and whoever we found not to kill us. That's why. How do you know that whoever we find isn't one of them? How do you know they won't kill us, and you too?"

"I don't," I answered honestly. "But I won't let them hurt us."

She didn't reply.

I smirked slightly. "You would care if they killed me?"

"Of course," she answered, turning her head to smile at me with feigned innocence. "After all, I called dibbs on that honor."


	7. Chapter 6: The Circle of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana, Lily and Nate settle down in Las Vegas and have some much needed Disney time.

A sharp slap to my cheek was what woke me up. I slowly blinked sleep from my eyes and let them adjust to the light. Cracking my sore neck from side to side, I recalled what had been going on. I was still seated in the middle of the truck bench, not having move since the previous night. I seemed to be the only one though, since Lily was in the passenger seat- surprise, it was her who slapped poor, defenseless sleeping me- and the passenger door was open.

"Rise and shine, drooly. We're in Vegas!"

I groaned, "What time is it?"

"Only about noon. Apparently, this is what Vegas looks like during the day to people who aren't drunk." Lily hopped out of the passenger seat, surprisingly perky. I followed her moving around the truck sleepily to where Nate was checking something on the laptop by the bed. Lily moved to stand by the street, a rare smile on her face. It was horrifying.

I whispered to Nate, "What is she on?"

He snorted. "I think she's just excited. She kind of loves gambling... and booze. Plus, the chances of her getting bounced in some of the places here are slim. She looks old for a 17 year old."

"That's probably the only mature part of her," I deadpanned.

"This coming from you?"

"...Shut up."

He laughed and I looked over his shoulder at the computer screen.

"What are you checking?"

"I'm seeing if I got any alerts during the drive. So far, nothing else has been mentioned about the Ephogian we're tracking, but no one has sent word that the body has left Vegas yet. It's probably still here." He glanced over at me, before doing a comically accurate double-take. "Ana, your eyes are super red. When was the last time you changed your contacts?"

I had to think about that. I had not had much of a chance since... well, since I met Lily and Nate. I was really overdue for a change, but I hadn't even noticed the irritation in my eyes until Nate pointed it out. "It's been a while."

"You should take them out for a little while," he suggested. "It's Vegas, people will just think you're wearing really accurate colored contacts."

I nodded. He had a point after all; the chances of someone automatically assuming the myriad of gold and amber was my real eye color was slim to none, and with the lights that would turn on once it got dark, it would be hard for any hunter to tell from afar. "I'll take them out for the night once we get to someplace to sleep. Speaking of..."

"I booked a room for us in a hotel earlier in the car before I took the wheel back," Nate finished for me.

"How did you pay for it?"

"Lily took a credit card off the owner of this truck when you weren't looking. She told me to tell you 'Sorry not sorry, dumbass.' Her words, not mine."

**> >>>><<<<<**

Lily plopped down on one of the fluffy white beds in our hotel room. The puffy white comforter almost swallowed her whole. "Ah, yes, this is how I _should_ be living. In comfort."

Nate sat down on the bed with his laptop next to him. "We shouldn't stay here too long. We could be caught. Tonight is a Friday, so almost everyplace will be packed, except, of course, the places without a casino. The morgue being one of them. It shouldn’t be too hard."

"Oh, come on bro," Lily wined. "Can't we stay for a few days? You know, relax, have some fun, _not_ risk out lives to find an alien race on the brink of extinction."

I almost corrected her, but decided to be the mature one and not. Point one Ana.

"We shouldn't stay in any place for too long. It's dangerous, you know that," Nate sighed, shoving her mud-caked feet off the bed.

She swung up to sit next to him. "Pleeeeeease?"

Nate turned to me. "What do you think, Ana?"

I deliberated for a moment. On the one hand, it might be nice to stay in one place for at least a few night, especially a nice place like this hotel. On the other hand, saying yes would involve agreeing with Lily. Shudder.

"Two days," I decided. Lily fist-bumped the air and Nate nodded agreeing, so everyone was happy. I continued, "We can camp out here for a little while and go down to the morgue tonight around 2. That should give us a good time frame. If everything goes smoothly, we can stay until Sunday."

We agreed upon the plan and set to do a feat none of us had accomplished anytime lately: relax.

Nate toed off his shoes and kicked his feet onto the bed to lounge back against the headboard. The laptop rested against his stomach and for once, it didn't seem like he was tracking the hunters. Lily jumped up cross-legged next to him on the bed and pulled up her back-pack, pulling off her shoes and throwing them behind her when she caught Nate's glare. I myself settled onto the big comforter of my own bed and scrolled through the TV guide on the screen.

"Hey, check out what's on!"

_Nance-in-gwenya-mata-ti-ti-ba-ba!_

We all watched as animals from all over the pride lands gathered around Pride Rock to see a baby Simba introduced to the world. Rafiki held him up above the throng and the music exploded.

As we watched the best Disney movie, in my opinion at least, Nate lowered the computer screen enough to seen over it without _really_ closing it and Lily slowly pulled and laid out on the bed her arsenal of guns (don't ask me where she was smuggling them, I have no idea and am perfectly content to live in ignorance) and began to clean them as delicately as if she were giving a newborn baby a bath. Which is a little creepy if you ask me.

We finally were able to take a little weight off our shoulders.  It struck me suddenly how young we all were. I was only fifteen, soon to be sixteen. I felt older than that. Nate _was_ sixteen and Lily seventeen. She was actually two years older than me. That's a depressing thought. And yet here we were,  Nate tracking people trying to kill us, Lily cleaning over a dozen weapons she needed just for survival, and me, trying to find something even remotely close to family in a world that didn't want me and a race that didn't know I was here.

Nate and Lily were orphans living off the street. I was an alien. We were the lost children. We were nobody. But as Lily tried to cover up a tear in her eye when Mufasa fell to his death, and as Nate sang along loudly and _way_ off key to Hakuna Matata, I couldn't find it in myself to be sad about our current situation. Who says being lost is always a bad thing?

 **> >>><<<<** 

Just like planned, at precisely two o'clock I the morning, after a day of napping and movies, we all sat outside the morgue in a rental car bought through a fake credit card.

Nate turned to Lily in the passenger seat and me leaning over the arm console from the back. "Ready?"

Lily and I nodded. She got out of the car first, her gun already out and ready to fire. Nate and I followed her. Lily had given him a gun he kept in a holster by his side she had _also_ given him. And me? Well, I had something a bit better than a gun.

We stepped into the cold building, completely void of any others. No matter how hard we tried to go quietly, our steps echoed down the long white hallways as we made our way to where Nate had discerned the body was being kept. When we got to the locked room, Lily kicked it open before I even had a chance to protest. Laying on the center table with a pristine sheet covering it, was the only body in the room.

My body hummed with energy as I approached. Even Nate and Lily fidgeted where they stood in the doorway. When I reached the side of the cold metal table, I pulled the sheet back just enough to reveal the body. It was a boy, seemingly only in his late twenties. His face was pale and peaceful, but if our suspicions were correct, his death was anything but.

I pulled the sheet down to his waist and the theory was confirmed. A large black, rotting scorch mark marked the center of his chest. It smelled of death and felt like anger and hate. A blow like that would kill the person instantly, and never come off, no matter how much time passes.

Red marks fade like bruises, slowly but surely. Purple marks are meant to heal and leave no physical trace except to erase wounds. Black energy was not to be used often, only to be drawn upon in times of great trouble. The mark would stay forever, a constant reminder of what a person had deigned to do, warranted or not.

I moved a hand to the resting Ephogian's face and peeled back one of the eyelids. A golden pupil stared back at me and I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of confused anger. _Why would we be killing each other? Why, when there are so few to begin? Why?_

I suppressed my outrage in the moment. There was a reason we came here. I gingerly placed both of my hands over the black scorch mark, trying not to flinch against the feel of rotting flesh. I had to concentrate.

First came the moment. The moment of death. I could feel the black energy emanating from the killer's fingers as if they were my own. The darkness of it left a sour taste in my mouth, accompanied my metallic aftertaste, almost like blood. I felt all of the violent hate that was summoned to the surface. I could almost see the reaping bullet explode across the Ephogian's chest, him staggering backwards, eyes wide in disbelief, then falling to the ground as a corpse.

The rest of it came in surges, short but no less powerful. I saw their life backwards: hate, rage, violence, vengeance. A dark sense of hope and a twisted sense of peace. Despair, grief, life. Nothingness.

I stumbled back away from the body. My hands shook violently. It was done. The person's energy signature was imprinted in my brain, now and forever. I hated the feel. I had never liked to read signatures, not even since I learned how. It always felt too personal to me. An Ephogian's energy signature was their identity and reading it was a look into their lives, their most intimate selves.

"Ana, are you okay?" Nate stared down at me, his heavy hand on my shoulder. I realized that in my post-reading trance I had stumbled back against the wall and slid down. I gently unfurled from the fetal position, releasing my hold around my legs and standing up.

"I-I'm fine. Just a bit shaken, that's all." I hated the way my voice wavered.

I looked over across the room at where Lily was standing facing us in the doorway. In that second, as my head turned, a gunshot sounded from down the hall and Lily crumpled to the ground.


	8. Chapter 7: Bleeding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get bad and then they get very, very bad.

Lily lay in a heap on the ground, not moving. Blood seeped out from her abdomen, creating a puddle on the floor. Two hunters dressed in black came around the corner and fired a litany of bullets in our direction. I threw up a protective yellow shield and the bullets disintegrated as they were intersected. 

Nate pulled out his gun and fired repeatedly, but even the most well aimed bullets didn't touch them. I used my left hand to maintain a shield over Lily's prone figure. The other hand fired red energy at the hunters, each bolt hitting square in their chests. The energy did no damage and I realized that they had finally managed to wire into their uniforms a sort of shield. Now that the thought occurred to me, I could just barely discern a faint yellow glow encompassing their figures. It was emanating from a glowing pack on their belts. 

I shouted over the gunfire, "Nate! Aim for the packs!"

He spotted the objects of my gaze and I saw realization dawn on him as his mind finished the calculations. He moved his aim lower and shot at each hunter's field. The bullets hit and the packs fizzed. The two hunters looked down as their field packs shorted out, leaving them vulnerable. While they were distracted, I hit them both square in the chests with red energy. 

Nate ran over to his sister the second they were down. I followed him, looking around the corner for safety. "Is she..."

His sigh of relief was assurance enough for me. "She's alive. You can heal her right?""

'Yes but not here, not now. We have to get someplace safe. I can't help her if I'm freaking out or in danger."

Nate gently cradled her in his arms and stood up. It startled me for a moment how small she looked. Lily had always been petite, but her larger-than-imaginable bitchy-ness had made her seem less tiny. Now, with her mouth closed for once (though not in the best circumstances), she looked insignificant. She looked sixteen.

A loud succession of bangs came from the hallway as an army of hunters came in guns blazing.

_Front door's out._

I pulled Nate away from the door by the arm and dragged him across the room to the window with Lily in his arms. Hunters lined the perimeter.

_Window’s out._

I conjured a shield around us to protect from the bullets that could come from outside and dragged Nate by the bicep onto the rusty fire-escape. He understood my mission and followed easily. We were already out the window when the hunters down the hall turned into the morgue.

Half of my concentration was focused on climbing the iron stairs as fast as possible and the other half was focused on maintaining the shield around us so I didn't notice Lily had stirred. She caught my attention when she mumbled weakly, "Why the fuck are we going _up?_ "

"It's great you can be a bitch in this situation, really a vote of confidence," I bit back, though I was relieved a bit. If Lily was being a bitch, the world was okay.

I absent-mindedly registered her giving me a sarcastic thumb's up from the corner of my eye. Could thumbs be sarcastic? I'll figure it out later.

"Ana," Nate questioned gently, "why _are_ we going up?"

"Because down, right and left would get us killed. Process of elimination."

A bullet shot directly in front of us, a bullet that would have grazed my shoulder if my shield had not deflected it. It did however, hit into the support system of the faire-escape. It was a rickety thing on its own, but having a bullet hit into one of the little-connector thingies that apparently pretty much held the whole contraption together was too much for it.

The floor shook under us and the front half of the landing we were balancing on fell away from the stairs, pitching us downward. I grabbed onto the floor as we slid, lacing my fingers in the grated metal. Nate had hooked his arm onto the top of the now nearly vertical floor swinging through the air. Lily let out a small cry when the bullet in her stomach jolted from the sudden movement. Nate still had his arm carefully across her middle, below the wound enough to not hurt her but high enough that she wasn't dangling like a rag doll.

"Ana! Do something!" Nate's face was wet with perspiration from the effort of carrying Lily this whole time and now keeping both her and himself from falling five stories down.

I scrambled up to his level for extra safety and reformed the shield that had momentarily slipped away. I was starting to go weak from the effort. Maintaining a shield for this long was difficult work, requiring concentration. Meditation was not an option when you're being shot at!

"I have to save enough energy to heal Lily when we get to safety!" I could barely hear my own shouts over the symphony of gunfire.

"If you don't do something we won't _get_ to safety!"

I steeled my nerves and closed my eyes. I had to do _something_ , he was right. I tapped into my last reserve of energy and let it come out, moving the shield away from myself and molding it around the siblings in front of me. Red energy exploded from my chest, powered by everything I was feeling in that moment.

Fear for the lives of myself and my friends.

Desperation to get out of the danger by any means necessary.

Anger at the hunters who tried to destroy the things I loved at every turn.

Hatred at the things I've had to do to survive because of these people.

Protectiveness of the people I was actually able to keep in my life for almost two weeks, the longest I've had someone since my family was killed.

Long kept grief for the people I've lost that I told myself over and over and over was not raw anymore but I could feel like an open wound when I let it bleed.

I let it all come pouring out in a constant stream of loss and infortune. I couldn't seem to stop it now that I had taken of the bandages.

Oh, how I bled.

When there was nothing more for me to give, when I had bled out, I opened my eyes. What I saw was almost more horrifying than having an army of steel fly at me through the air as I dangled at gravity's mercy.

The first thing I saw was the trees. They were blackened and felled, pushed back against the world like someone had sent a hand down from the heavens and pushed them back. The next thing my depraved mind registered was the damage I had unintentionally done to the building. It was still standing, the brunt of my energy being sent in the opposite direction, but the glass of the windows was shattered and a few bricks had shaken loose.

Then were the bodies. They lay sprawled on the ground, their bodies still and blackened past their regular uniforms. Their masked covered what I knew to be their dead faces. It was a masqueraded massacre. I had killed them. All of them.

My gaze focused on Nate and Lily next. Lily was unconscious again, the stress having gotten to her, but I saw her chest rise and fall rhythmically in a steady way I knew mine wasn't moving. Nate still looked afraid, but now it was focused on me. I shrunk under his fearful gaze. He noticed the movement and the horror on my own face and quickly schooled his features. I couldn't erase the look he gave me so easily though, the way he was afraid of _me._

"Come on," he said gently, carefully maneuvering me by the arm to a blasted open window. I climbed through past the glass, numb but for the horror I felt. I couldn't blame Nate for being scared of me. _I_ was scared of me.

Once I was in Nate handed me Lily and I laid her carefully on the ground as he climbed into the building. The overhead lights were shattered and broken bits of glass loitered the ground. The entire premises looked like a bomb had exploded. In a way, one had. A bomb named Ana.

Nate searched my features carefully. "Are you okay?"

I nodded silently, not trusting my voice. He looked relatively fine, by shield having protected him the entire way through. Lily, obviously, did not look fine.

Her skin was pale and clammy and blood was still seeping through her soaked shirt from the wound, though in lesser amounts now that she was on her back. I tried to ignore how much she looked like a corpse. Just another corpse in this place. It wasn't just a morgue now; it was a graveyard.

"I'm going to get some first aid supplies. Stay here, don't use any more energy."

I saw what he didn't say in his eyes. He didn't want me using my powers on his sister, not after what he had just seen. Nate had his parents killed by my kind, and now he didn't trust me, or my capability to control my powers. Nate didn't show his wary side as often as Lily, but it was always there. I just didn't pass the test anymore.

I nodded and he got up to leave, and then it was me, the almost-corpse, and the monster in the room.


	9. Chapter 8: It's the Thought That Counts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana deals with the emotional and physical repercussions of her energy explosion while Lily recuperates from her wound.

Useless.

I felt so useless.

Lily was hurt, badly. I was supposed to be the one who fixed Nate and Lily when they were hurt. But I couldn't this time. There was nothing left in me, I was empty and devoid of energy after...

... After I killed hundreds of people.

So there I sat, watching silently as Nate put the finishing touches on the bandage around Lily's waist. She still hadn't woken up. He sat back on his haunches, staring at Lily's pale face. Finally, for the first time since we climbed through the shattered window, he raised his eyes to meet mine.

"Are you okay, Ana?"

I nodded numbly, dropping my eyes to the near-pristine linoleum floor.

He snorted softly. "Sure you are." He paused. "How long do you think we'll be stuck here?"

I tried not to outwardly show how grateful I was for him changing the subject to one less emotionally wrecking. "I'm not sure. We can't really move until Lily can. I'm not sure how long that will take."

Nate nodded in assent and we lapsed back into a charged silence.

Nate must have noticed my droopy figure and white pallor at some point. "You should get some rest. You're probably completely drained."

I winced at the sentiment. It was true, I was drained. I was so drained after my mass slaughter that I couldn't heal my wounded friend.

Nate somehow seemed to follow my own train of thought. "You can't just keep yourself awake as some sort of punishment."

"Tell that to the graveyard outside," I muttered angrily.

"You did what you had to do-"

"No I didn't!" I was gone, I had snapped. "What I needed to do was use a little bit of red energy to temporarily stun the hunters so we could escape!  _That_ was what I needed to do, Nate! Not kill them all! Not lose control completely!"

Nate moved around Lily and picked me up from my balled position on the floor by the shoulders, shaking me when I was on my feet. "Listen to me, Ana.  _You did what you had to do._  You were the only one who could have gotten us out of there alive, and you did. Yes, people are dead, yes many of them. But they were people who were going to hurt us, and would go on to hurt other people."

"They were still people Nate! People with families and lives! I  _took_  those lives!"

Nate opened his mouth to scream rebuttal at me but was interrupted by a weak yet thoroughly annoyed voice from the ground.

"Would the two of you shut the hell up? I'm trying to not die here and you're loud emotional conflicts are being very inconvenient. It's quite rude."

Nate let go of my shoulders and dropped down with me to lean by Lily, who was now awake and giving us the bitch-face.

Nate murmured, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got shot and then man-handled up a fire escape. How are you?"

"Like I carried a bleeding sack of apples up a fire escape," Nate shot back.

"I'll have you know, I took an online quiz and my spirit fruit is the lemon."

"I get that," I agreed and a smile tugged at my lips.

We were going to be alright.

Nate asked her quietly, "Do you need anything?"

Lily shook her head and didn't say what I knew she was thinking. She didn't want to be alone. None of us did right now.

"How much does it hurt?" Lily lolled her head around to look at me.

"On a scale of one to ten, about an eight. I've had worse," she shrugged.

"You've had worse than being shot and almost falling off a fire escape?"

"Lily's not the most cautious person," Nate huffed.

"I've sort of figured that out on my own."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Lily tired." Lily shifted minutely on the ground and her eyes fluttered shut. Nate stood from his position on the ground and I followed, stretching my legs on the way up.

"We have some time to kill," I observed. "We should get some rest."

Nate nodded quietly and moved over to the supply closet he had located in out room earlier. He came back with three towels. "These can do for blankets."

I nodded and accepted one from him, holding it to my face. It smelled like cheap cleaner and antibiotics and the same overwhelming emptiness of this morgue. It seemed ironic that in a place made for the examination of dead people, all of the corpses lay right on the doorstep.

Nate settled back down next to Lily, leaning up against the wall. He draped one of the towels over his sister and curled the other around his arms. I only then realized how cold I was. Goose-bumps littered my arms from the wind, its stinging bite unobstructed by the obstacle of any windows. I sat down a few feet from Nate and Lily, folding my knees up to my chest and resting my head between them.

I had known even as I suggested it that any attempts to sleep that night would be futile. I was exhausted, my bones feeling like they were made of lead and my eyelashes sticking together like glue after every blink. My body was in no state to elude sleep. It was my mind that was creating the problem. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the bodies again. I felt the grated platform of the fire escape fall jarringly from beneath my very feet. I remembered Lily crumpling to the ground as a rose bloomed on her shirt.

Slowly, ever so slowly, tendrils of light curled around the darkness outside, wisps of grey finding their place among the black. It wasn't sunrise, not quite, but the hour or so between the depth of night and when the sun came out to let us all start anew. They say that it is always darkest before the dawn, but there is this time. This time that is surrounded by past and future yet untouched by the present.

It was beautiful.

I glanced over at where Nate and Lily were just barely visible in the new found light. Lily was still sound asleep and Nate appeared to be at first, but I caught the sight of his hand carding through Lily's blonde tresses like one might sooth a small child. He must have felt my quiet gaze, because he looked up to catch my eye, smiling softly.

His whisper came reaching through the quiet, a barely audible, "Morning."

"Not quite," I whispered back. "Did you sleep?"

He shook his head, but didn't ask me if I had. He knew that it would have been nearly impossible. Instead he said, "I like this time of day."

"Me too. I used to wake up early with my brother just to sit outside when it was like this."

Nate looked at me strangely. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Sayo, meaning Wise in Ephogianese. He was nine when we had our first run in with the hunters. He didn't make it." I smiled sadly.

"You've never really told us anything about your past."

I shrugged, replying, "Most of it was spent alone, just running from hunters. The first attack was when I was ten. Before then I was with my parents and two other Ephogian families."

"Did none of them make it through the attack?"

"Not even one. This one kid, Alecnt, went running off to help the parents while the kids ran. I tried to follow him, but everyone was already dead by the time Alecnt got there. I made it just in time to see the sole remaining hunter shot Alecnt through the skull. He was dead by the time he hit the ground."

"And the hunter didn't kill you?"

"He didn't get a chance. I killed him."

My eyes never wavered from the window, but I felt Nate stand up and move to sit beside me, a hand on my shoulder.

"You did what you had to do, Ana."

"You keep saying that."

"Repeating it doesn't make it any less true. You did what you had to do to survive, just like you always do. You're not a killer, you're a survivor."

So he said to the girl named Warrior.

Maybe that was true too.


	10. Chapter 9: Look at Those Cute Little Dots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana, Lily and Nate track a new lead as they recuperate from the attack at the morgue and deal with the consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 14 now posted on Wattpad! Final chapter to be posted on October 30.
> 
> Kudo, comment, bookmark, share!
> 
> Enjoy!

_Bump._

"Ow."

_Bump._

"Ow!"

_Bump!_

"Hey, do you think we could find a more jarring road? This one isn't fun enough!"

Nate steadfastly ignored Lily's complaints from the backseat and kept driving. There was nothing he could have done anyway. We were a bunch of teenagers, one of whom was bleeding, running away from a crime scene in a charred pick-up truck. Not exactly inconspicuous. In an effort to keep somewhat off the grid, we had been taken only the lesser-known roads.

Less traveled= More bumpy= Grumpy Lily.

Lily huffed when her complaints went ignored and moved her head back own onto the seat, groaning when her still healing stomach protested. She had been laying in the same position for over three hours and was starting to go stir-crazy. Hell, I was starting to get restless.

Nate glanced over at me from the driver's seat and asked, "How much longer until the next rest-stop?"

I glanced down at the map pulled up on his  _(my)_  laptop. "Only two miles. There's a gas station with a convenience store. You should see the sign."

As if summoned by my words, the gas station appeared over the horizon. Nate pulled in to one of the slots and we were immediately approached by one of the workers. Taking a quick glance around, I noticed four other people: the cashier in the store, two men he was talking to, and another sitting in the only other car at the station.

Nate gave his order to the worker as I slid out of the car, dust from the ground billowing under my feet. I turned back and said to him through the open window, "I'm going to go into the store. Do you want anything in particular?"

When Nate shook his head I turned to leave, but the sound of the back-seat door opening and slamming shut drew my attention.

"Lily! You can't go in there," Nate called after his sister as she left the car.

I grabbed her arm as she tried to push past me. "Lily-"

"I'm fine," she interrupted angrily. "I don't need to be coddled. If I want to go into a convenience store, I'm going into the damn convenience store!"

"Lily, you were shot last night. You had a bullet removed from your stomach this morning. You are in no shape to be up and moving."

She rounded on me, folding her arms over her chest and trying to cover up the wince when it jostled her stomach the wrong way. "I'm going in, and if you try to stop me,  _you'll_  be the one with the bullet in your stomach. Now, are you going to come with me or not?"

I sighed. There was no way of talking her out of this. She had even changed her bloodied clothes out for clean ones this morning so I couldn't argue about her being conspicuous.

A blast of cool air hit me as I followed Lily into the store, a welcome change from the hot and dry weather outside. As Lily ventured into the snack aisle, I was perfectly happy to search through the chilly drink cases. Shoving as many bottles as I could into the canvas bag we had been using for provisions, I kept half my attention on the three men by the counter, and I knew Lily was doing the same. We met back at the front to check out.

As he rang up our purchases, the cashier looked at Lily and me warily. "Say, what are you kids doing alone?"

"Road trip," I answered curtly.

"Shouldn't you have parents with you?"

"Our brother is driving us," I lied. When Lily rolled her eyes beside me, I knew I was in for a long rant about her being three minutes older than him.

"Okay, just be careful. You never know what you're going to run into out there."

Before I could stop her, Lily blurted sarcastically, "Like aliens?"

The three men laughed and the cashier shook his head at her. "Alien's don't exist."

"Of course not," I agreed, stepping on Lily's foot sharply when she threatened to laugh. I grabbed her by the elbow to drag her away, but she sobered suddenly and refused to budge, dragging me back with her eyes fixed on the television set above my head.

The on-air news reporter was standing in front of a blue wall, but the pictures next to her showed a cluster of bodies laying on the ground out side of a brick building. The sound was off as a courtesy to store patrons, but the subtitles clearly read:  _'152 people found dead outside of Las Vegas Morgue."_

As the other three men watched carefully, their attention drawn by Lily's , the two of us got the hell out of that store and back to Nate in the car.

"What's going on?"

I didn't explain, just practically dove into the passenger seat with the bags. Lily didn't even protest being left with the backseat.

"Drive," she ordered, and Nate was speeding off before the doors were even closed.

"What's going on?" Nate was clearly growing more irritable the longer we left our hasty departure unexplained.

"We were on the news," Lily explained, leaning her head between the front seats to be on the same level as us.

"We were on the news?"

"Not us exactly," I clarified. "They were reporting on the dead people at the morgue."

"Why would they do that?"

"152 corpses might draw attention even at a morgue."

"No, I mean why would they do a major report on the deaths of 152  _hunters._  People aren't supposed to know anything about that."

"He has a point," Lily agreed. "They risk exposure like this."

I sat heavily back in my seat, glancing out the window as the scenery sped by. "I don't know what their game is, but they've upped it. People are going to be on the lookout for anything suspicious, and now they have a martyr. Actually, they have 152 martyrs."

"So it's official," Lily observed. "We're the bad guys."

Nate sighed in agreement, but rolled his eyes all the same. Before he could say anything else, a ding came from my laptop, pulling our focus.

"Ana, can you check that?"

I pulled the computer back out from where I had stashed it before. When I opened the screen, an alert immediately popped up, followed by a map with blinking dots.

"What's this?"

"Whenever the hunters track down a new Ephogian, they track it with these dots. I was able to get the map from the system," Nate explained.

"Look," Lily observed, pointing to a sizable cluster in California. "There's a lot of them there."

"More than usual," I mused, my finger hovering near the dots. "That's where we should go next. If there's a cluster that big, we need to find them."

"It shouldn't take too long to get there. We're not far from California. Where exactly are they?"

"Los Angeles."

Lily snorted. "And they said we wouldn't find aliens on the road."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, check out Unbroken, the first in a medieval fantasy trilogy. Also, keep an eye out for Legends of Eirye: Mark of the Heart, coming August 12!


	11. Chapter 10: Say the Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana, Nate and Lily track a small group of Ephogians to LA and begin to have their questions answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 4 more days until the Wattpad release of Legends of Eirye: Mark of the Heart! Check out the final chapter of Unbroken for more information!
> 
> Kudo, comment, bookmark, share!
> 
> Enjoy!

I stared out the window as the Nevada scenery zoomed by. It should only take us a few hours to get to Los Angles from where we had stopped just outside of Vegas. After that, I had no idea what we would do. Nate glanced over at me from the drivers seat and back to Lily, who was sleeping in the back.

"Hey," he said softly, "What are you thinking about?"

I looked over at him and shrugged. "Not much, really."

"Bull. Come on, you can tell me," he prompted.

I looked back out the window. "I was just thinking about the news report today."

Earlier this morning at a rest-stop, Lily and I had seen a newscaster report on the 152 hunters I had... Well, the people I had killed. It had me spooked for sure. Not just because of what happened, too. That haunted me and it probably always would, but I was dealing with it, slowly and surely. The most concerning matter about the news report was that there actually _was_ one. The hunter organization had always been kept a firm secret from the rest of the world, but now they were announcing the mass deaths. It had its benefits, giving them martyrs and making us the villains, but it also drew attention to the organization. They hadn't said any names or given any information on the hunters, but 152 uniformed and armed bodies was surely going to bring about questions.

"They risk so much exposure by doing that," I explained. "Do they really need to make us the bad guys that much. They had always gotten along fine with no one knowing. Why now?"

"You saw the dots. Ephogians are clumping, coming together. My guess is that you have the hunters spooked. They don't want you clustering or forming alliances within yourselves. It makes things more dangerous for them. You're more powerful than us mere humans, and there's strength in numbers. They're just hoping to gain the upper hand."

"I guess. That's another thing. Why are Ephogians traveling together? It's always been too dangerous to have large groups, being more noticeable. It doesn't make any sense." I sighed heavily and leaned my face against the glass. "There is so much going on and we don't have a clue about any of it."

He shrugged. "We're in over our heads. That doesn't mean we should give up."

"Sometimes that feels like the easiest method."

"It always is. And don't get me wrong, you can give up. We all can. Just say the word and I'll turn this car around. We'll find a motel, get jobs at some diner or wherever is willing to hire a bunch of kids. Maybe we can save up for an apartment all together eventually."

I laughed mirthlessly, "Than why don't we?"

"Because we would hate it. You would hate that you never found other people of your kind, people who would understand and help you in ways Lily and I never could. The two of us would hate that we never became anything more than a couple of orphans, that we never lived up to our parents hopes. We would be safe, secure. We would survive. But we would never live. And we would never forgive ourselves for being anything less than all we could be."

"And what exactly can we be?"

"More. We could be more than just orphans, or just an alien. We could be more than survivors."

I whipped my head up to face him, snapping angrily, "And if we don't survive? If this all goes down in flames and we're left to get burned with the rest of them?"

He didn't answer at first, but looked over at me. "Am I supposed to know the answer?"

"You always seem to."

"Not always. There's a lot I don't know. I don't know what we're going to find in Los Angles. I don't know what is going on with the Ephogians or the hunters. I don't know if we're going to die tomorrow, or the next day or the next. But I do know that I don't want to be another orphan. I know I don't want to look at a diner. I know I want to be more. But say the word, and we'll turn around."

I looked out the window as the Nevada scenery zoomed by and I didn't say anything.

++++++++++

To say that Lily was unhappy about being woken would be an understatement. I stood back by the front of the truck to leave that job (read: death sentence) to Nate. I was fairly certain she wouldn't shoot _him._

Honestly, Nate wasn't happy to wake her up either. He was adamant that she needed rest to heal fully and we both knew that an awake Lily was most decidedly _not_ a resting Lily. However, it was necessary that she got up because they had finally reached Los Angeles.

After yesterday's fiasco, Nate and I had decided together not to get a hotel. There was enough room for the three of us to sleep in the car, which would be best incase the hunters tracked us down and we had to make a quick escape.

As Nate poked the bear, I checked where the dots were on his _(my)_ laptop. They're position hadn't changed since I checked two hours ago, but that only meant the hunters hadn't called in a new location, not that they hadn't moved.

They had recorded a very general area, and a very busy one too. It would be nearly impossible for the hunters to find the Ephogians in there, which was fortunate. Unfortunately, it also made it nearly impossible for _us_ to track them. However, we had one advantage the hunter didn't. Hopefully.

You can never know with those guys.

Lily came grumbling around the truck to stand next me, followed by a rather satisfied looking Nate. I passed the computer off to him wordlessly and handed Lily one of the energy bars we had bought earlier that morning at the rest-stop. It was only now reaching two in the afternoon, the trip to LA only having taken us 4 hours.

Nate turned to me after checking some of his Nerd Alerts on the laptop. "What's the plan?"

"What makes you think I have a plan?"

"Because you haven't asked me that exact question yet," he smirked.

"How come no one ever asks if I have a plan?" Despite her complaint, Lily didn't seem to angry.

"Lily, we know your plan. Step One: Violence. Step Two: Rinse and Repeat."

She nodded proudly and turned back to her breakfast. "The plan..." Nate prompted.

I hesitated for a moment. "There might be a way I can use energy to find the Ephogians."

"How?"

"I already know none of them were the one who killed the Ephogian we checked out in the morgue. I would have recognized their energy signature miles back. Since I don't have their energy signature, there's not really a way for me to track them. However, there's a chance I can get _them_ to come to _us._ All I have to do is extend my energy out in their general area and they'll sense it."

"Are you sure they would come find you? They could be scared you would kill them, what with Ephogians turning against each other."

"Or they could kill you," Lily pointed out oh-so helpfully.

"It's a crowded spot. They can't kill me there. Plus you guys will be around to see if anyone tries anything or notices."

"It's worth a shot," Nate shrugged. Lily nodded and crumpled her wrapper.

"We should do it soon. Hopefully they haven't left yet."

In the square where the Ephogians had been tracked, numerous groups of people were milling around, shopping and socializing. Any one of them could be an alien like me, and we wouldn't know until I tried. The three of us stood on a covered, slightly raised balcony outside an Italian restaurant in order to get a good view of the crowd.

"Look," Nate said, pointing at a group of five people sitting by the fountain. They all kept glancing over their shoulders warily and looking around the plaza st nothing in particular.

"Keep your eye on them," I suggested, to which he replied with a nod.

Lily was scanning the area like us, but she had opted to eye the windows of surrounding buildings, explaining that she was looking for hunters. Nate and I had managed to convince her to only bring one gun.

Without wasting anymore time, I closed my eyes, counting on Nate and Lily to keep me steady and watch my back. Sending out a signal wasn't hard. I just had to release a tiny bit of my energy into that of the surrounding world. Any being in tune with the earthly energy, namely the Ephogians, would sense it and be able to pinpoint my location.

Nate squeezed my arm and I blinked open my eyes. He nodded quickly in the direction of the group he had pointed out earlier. One of them glanced my way as the others whispered amongst themselves. Gathering up their things, the group began to leave.

"Follow them," I instructed, tailing after Lily, who was already halfway across the square to where the Ephogians were turning the corner. We hurried their way, tailing them behind a bend and into an alleyway.

They had noticed us following them. Once we reached the alleyway, the group stopped and turned to us. All five pairs of hands were vibrating with a faint red glow, as were mine. Lily had her hand by her gun and Nate was in fighting stance. Eight people in an alleyway and a storm brewing.

The Ephogian at the apex of their group spat at me, "What do you want with us?" She was an older women, most likely in her late 50s, with wiry, grey in hair but a strong presence.

"I just want to talk," I assured.

"It looks that way," she growled, nodding at my glowing hands.

I shook my hands slowly to disperse my nervous tension. Nate sagged in surrender beside me, but to my left, Lily did not waver. "We don't want to hurt you. My name is Ana. We have been looking for other Ephogians."

"Why?"

"I just want to be with me people in a place safe from hunters."

She looked at Nate and Lily on either side of me. "What are you doing with the humans?"

"They're allies."

"No such thing."

"It's true. Their parents were allies too. They have been helping me. They're not going to hurt you."

I could practically feel Lily suppress her snort.

The woman who had been speaking studied us for a long moment, but finally let the energy from her hands go. "Do you swear on your energy?"

"Semenko." _I swear._

She nodded. "I am Maniaa, meaning Steady. This is Dembrank, Hieln, Jongu, and Kyo."

She pointed at each in turn. Dembrank seemed the oldest besides her, possibly in his late 40s. He had light hair and a pale face, strongly built. Hieln was the only other female in their group. I recognized her name to mean Fair, though she was anything but. Her face sagged and her hair was falling out in clumps, though she couldn't have been older than 20. Jongu was slightly more visually appealing, but he had her stout build and wide forehead and, suggesting a sibling relation. Kyo was the youngest and most attractive, with jet black hair and luminescent skin. He looked to be about the age of Nate and Lily.

"I'm Anakanta, meaning Warrior. This is Nate and Lily, meaning Nate and Lily."

Maniaa smiled wryly. "Where are you coming from?"

"We have been all over, but we recently came from Las Vegas."

"Where the hunter massacre was?"

I looked down slightly. "Yes."

She looked at me carefully. "It was you, wasn't it?"

I nodded slowly. I wasn't going to lie to them.

She smiled in an almost proud manner. "That was impressive. The mass of it, the intensity. _That's_ power. So why would you come looking for us?"

"I told you, I wanted to find more Ephogians to be with," I repeated.

"Yes, that's what you said. But why? Why would you come looking for us when you hold the power to have a perfectly good life all on your own?"

A sense of deja vu washed over me and I glanced at Nate from the corner of my eye. "I wanted to be more than a survivor," I said quietly, knowing as I spoke the words that that were true. Stronger, more convinced, I continued, "I want to help my race, in any way I can."

Maniaa smiled again. "Then you found the right Ephogians. We are on our way to the base of the Ahada now to join."

"The Ahada?"

"You haven't heard? About three years ago, an anonymous Ephogian established an Ahada, an army of Ephogians created to take back Earth. They have a base on Mount Shasta. We have been heading there. You should join us."

"What is the army doing now?"

"Now they are recruiting members and disposing of potential threats."

"The hunters."

"Yes," Maniaa said slowly. I knew from her tone that there was more to it, but it was something I would have to find out for myself. "Do you want to come?"

"On the condition Nate and Lily come with me." I briefly caught Lily giving me a surprised look, but she quickly schooled her features.

Maniaa hesitated and gave me a cautious look. I didn't care. The three of us were a package deal. She took us two ways, all or none. Finally she nodded. "Just say the word."

"Yes."

It was a good thing I had saved that.


	12. Chapter 11: And Miles to Go Before We Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang travels with Maniaa and her group to Mount Shasta and the Ahada.

Road tripping is not always as fun as it sounds. For example, sitting in a stolen pick-up truck for hours with someone bleeding from a gunshot wound as we left a crime scene was decidedly _not_ my cup of tea. Sure, being with Nate (and yeah, okay, Lily too on a good day) was enjoyable, but the mood had almost always been somber.

Quite the contrary, I loved traveling with Maniaa and her group. They had been traveling in a large RV so there was actually space for once. They also weren't quiet or sad for long. I spent a lot of time talking with Dembrank about Ephogian history after learning he was a scholar. Hieln and Jongu kept quietly to themselves for the most part but were always friendly. Maniaa and Nate were often seen frequenting the driver's and passenger's seat, discussing possible theories and plans of action. The rest of us would sometimes add in thoughts, but it was mostly them.

Lily, ever the social butterfly, hardly talked to anyone but me, Nate and Maniaa, who was the clear leader of the six. After the first few hours of travel, however, she warmed up to Kyo most out of the rest. He was interested in human firearms, something Lily knew perhaps a bit too much about. In turn for her teaching him how to shoot a gun during our breaks, he explained to her about Ephogian battle tactics and techniques. I hadn't expected her to listen to something without action, but apparently, if it involved violence, she could be the best student out there.

Everything was progressing merrily and everyone was getting along merrily and I was sitting there merrily waiting for it to all go to hell. Millions of questions about the Ahada and what was going on at Mount Shasta buzzed in my head as a background sound track to everything else going on. The few attempts I had made to talk with Maniaa privately had been neatly diverted and postponed. I knew she was avoiding explaining everything to me, but I didn't know why.

I finally got my chance to talk to Maniaa during the first night we had been traveling. We had been taking a slower journey than most. Because there were so many of us, we all had to stop for frequent food and bathroom breaks. We had also been sure to take mostly back roads and places we would be less likely to be seen. This lead to a nine hour journey stretching into almost a days worth of travel. Since we started in the middle of the day, we only made it about half the distance before deciding to stop for the night.

We set up to sleep in shifts, with two people always on guard. Maniaa and I were selected for the first watch. Well, technically, she had been chosen. I volunteered after seeing it might be my only chance to talk to her alone. The remaining six settled down to sleep for as long as possible on the dusty terrain; it had been too cramped to sleep inside the RV. I watched as Nate and Lily curled up with their backs against each other, sleeping as they lived.

Maniaa and I sat our selves down a few yards from the rest of them. She was obviously aware that I had things to discuss with her. Without even looking up at me, she said, "Are you going to ask me what you've been wondering or do you plan on sitting there silently for the entire watch?"

I was only silent for another moment. "Do you know why Ephogians are killing each other?"

She hesitated before answering. "Yes."

"Are you going to tell me why?"

There was no hesitation this time. "You are a smart girl, Ana. You already know that the Ahada is working to dispose of threats to the cause. You tell me why Ephogians would be killed."

"They were perceived as threats," I answered automatically, knowing the words to be true as I said them. "But why?"

"When you have a cause worth fighting for, anything or anyone who could get in the way is a threat. Sometimes, other Ephogians make the list."

"If the cause is to save the Ephogians, isn't killing them sort of taking two steps backwards?"

"You are so innocent, Ana. You can't see beyond the bounds of race and history. Some of the Ephogians have become complacent in their lives of hiding. Some even protest the re-taking of Earth. These are the true enemies."

"So you just kill off your own people."

"Not 'you', Ana. 'We' do this. You are one of the cause now."

Yeah, I guess I was.

**> >>>>**

"Hey."

I looked over at Lily, who had sat herself next to me. Maniaa had moved to the other side of our make-shift camp in order to watch our backs, leaving Lily and I alone to talk about whatever the heck had made her actually want to talk to me.

"Hey. You know, your watch doesn't start for an hour. You should get as much sleep as possible."

"Yes mother," she smirked. "I'll be fine. I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"The Ahada, Mount Shasta, these people. You, Nate and I haven't had a single moment to talk about it in private since we started this little road trip."

"Well, what do you want to say?"

"Do you really think it's safe?"

"It's probably one of the only places we _will_ be safe from the hunters."

"But they're not the only danger."

I glared at her. "What are you implying?"

"Look, you're cool with me and Nate, and that's great, but not everyone is going to share your acceptance."

"Maniaa and her group already agreed-"

"Maniaa and her group," Lily inturrpted, "are only six people. Six people out of who knows how many. And they said it themselves, the people of the Ahada want to take back Earth. Doesn't that basically mean utter annihilation of the humans?"

"We don't know that. Yes, there are some humans out there that are dangerous to Ephogians, namely the hunters. But they wouldn't kill allies or anyone who wasn't a threat."

"How do you know that?"

I stood abruptly. "Because I know my people!"

"Ana, pull your head out of your ass!" She jumped to her feet and grasped my forearm roughly when I tried to walk awat. "Just like not all humans are villians, not all Ephogians are heroes. There's good and evil in every race on Earth. Being an alien doesn't make you a saint."

I scoffed and pulled away from her. "So you think you'll be killed if you go to Mount Shasta?"

"It's not an irrational prediction," she hissed.

 _'She's just scared,'_ I told myself. _'You have to calm down.'_ Quieter, I said, "Nothing is going to happen to you or Nate at the base. I promise."

"How do you know that? Huh? Sorry Ana, but if an army of energy shooting aliens wants me dead, I'm gonna die."

"You won't. They'll understand. Please, Lily. For once, trust me."

She looked at me warily. "Fine, but if shit hits the fan, I'm saying I told you so."

I smiled at the familiar saying.

Now all I had to do was keep Lily and Nate alive against an army of Ephogians. Easy as pie. Very, very dangerous pie.

>>>>>

In the morning, we set off again. Maniaa predicted over our quick and meager breakfast that we would reach the camp by three. As the eight of us piled into the RV, she took me by the arm and pulled me aside to the back of the truck.

"I have to talk to you about these human friends of yours."

"Is everything alright? I know Lily can be a bit violent at times, but she normally doesn't mean it when she says she want to kill you or-"

"No, it's not that. I need to know now where your loyalties lie."

"What do you mean?"

"I understand that they are your friends, and we have accepted that. But I need to know now, before I bring you to the Ahada, that you will remain loyal to the cause and your people."

"You think I'm going to betray you?"

"I think you care very deeply about unpredictable people. And that can be a dangerous thing. I need you to promise me, right now, that you will be loyal to the cause and to your people."

I already had one promise.

"I promise."

Now I had two. The question was...

Could I keep them both?


	13. Chapter 12: Long Time No See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a grueling journey, they arrive at Mount Shasta to a face from Ana's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking on a bit of a different format with this one...

"Is she breathing?"

"Come on, get her up!"

"Did anyone see where the bullet came from?"

"Are they close?"

"We have to keep moving!"

"Where are the others?"

**~** **ONE HOUR EARLIER** **~**

"Why are we stopping?" I moved up to the front seat, where Maniaa had abruptly slammed her foot down on the breaks, apparently.

"Do you feel that?"

From the passenger seat, Nate asked, "Feel what?"

"There is energy in these woods." Maniaa closed her eyes gently and I could feel as she reached out to identify the signature.

"We're getting closer to the mountain," I observed. "It could be the Ephogians."

She shook her head, her mouth a grim line. "No, this energy is different. It's," she paused and when she opened her eyes, they were glowing with red. "Artificial."

We locked eyes and said in unison, "Hunters."

**~** **PRESENT** **~**

"Come on, Dembrank. We're almost close to the others. I can feel them."

"Maniaa, we've been walking for almost a half hour. There are still hunters out here and we have no idea how close they are. We have to find shelter."

"I will not leave my people behind."

**~** **ONE HOUR EARLIER~**

The second those two syllables fell from our lips, seventeen bullets were fired at the RV in perfect synchronization. I heard shouts and thumps as everyone hit the floor in a panic and ended up hunched below the passenger's seat with Nate.

When the only sound left was that of the air settling, I whispered, "How did they find us?"

"They probably used satellite photos. It took them a while to pinpoint our path and reach us, but who knows how many of them are out there now."

I caught Lily's eyes from across the RV and asked silently, _'Injuries?'_

I watched as her eyes darted from person to person in a quick scan before she shook her head.

I glanced over at Maniaa. "What now?"

**~PRESENT~**

"I can't belive it! I can't fucking belive it!"

"Would you just sit still? I have to make sure your stictes didn't open."

"I take it back. I can total believe that they left us for dead. I expected this, I told her."

"Lily, calm down. Ana will find us. She's not going to leave us."

**~ONE HOUR EARLIER~**

Maniaa glanced above her at the driver's window. "We're sitting ducks in here. We have to get out into the woods."

"Where they can hunt us like actual animals?" I glanced nervously at the lines of trees just barely visible to me.

"It's better than waiting for them to fire another round at us."

"Speaking of, why are they waiting?"

Nate laughed mirthlessly. "They know we're going to come out at some point."

Maniaa sighed and gathered herself. Speaking loud enough to adress the entire group, she said, "I think I have a plan."

**~PRESENT~**

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Is think so, but I'm not a doctor. Gunshot wounds aren't my specialty."

"I can see the mountain from here. If we get her to the base-"

"There's no time, Ana. None of us have enough energy to heal her and we're open prey here. Unless we get a miracle, we're doomed."

**~** **ONE** **HOUR EARLIER~**

"This is crazy. Absolutely ridiculous." Lily folded her arms stubbornly across her chest, blonde hair swinging as she shook her head.

"Lily, just think about it," I tried placatingly, but reason never seemed to make an impact on her.

"No, I will not think about it." She whirled on Maniaa, pointing at the elder woman accusingly. "You want us to run out there into the line of fire, sprint through the woods like naked children and hope the highly trained killers don't shoot us. No one can possibly be that optimistic."

"If we stay here, they are sure to converge on us and there is no hope of survival then. If we get out of the RV, expand our location range, we can make it to the base of the mountain and get help."

"If we don't get shot?"

"We'll be protected by our energy."

"And what about us lowly humans, huh? Did I miss the part where our skin is made out of Kevlar? I've already been shot once this week, I need a few more days between rounds."

"You will be protected," Maniaa promised.

Lily snorted and opened her mouth to say something undoubtedly offensive, but I stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"We will protect you. I promise."

**~PRESENT~**

"Maniaa, we have to stop. We'll never be able to track them with all of the frazzled energy in the air."

"I already told you-"

"You won't give up on your people, I heard. Look, we didn't see the direction Ana and the others went, but Nate and Lily were headed the closest to the mountain. We should look for them."

"The humans are not my concern, nor my priority. They can find their way back to the mountain, we will find ours to the others."

"Maniaa, we promised that we would protect them."

" _We_ promised they would be protected. _Who_ would do that was never specified."

**~ONE HOUR EARLIER~**

The second we stepped outside the RV, things got to be a little crazy (read: shitstorm).

The hunters seemed to know our plan before we even swung the door open. We bolted out of the trailer in pairs of two, as fast as not-so-humanly possible. Kyo and I went first, shrouded head to toe in a thick yellow shield. Jongu and Hieln were directly on our heels and Maniaa and Dembrank followed not a breath later. Nate and Lily were the last ones out.

I lost sight of them almost instantly, which was  not a good thing considering I was the one who was keeping their shields up. Each pair of us tore from the gates like thoroughbreds, fanning out in four different directions. Nate and Lily ran most directly towards the mountain, while Kyo and I moved opposite them. The other four spread out between us.

Trees and greenery rushed past us in a blur as we ran. I could feel the bullets whistling through the air, coming a bit too close for comfort only to ricochet off our energy every time. We kept careful pace together, ziging and zaging to avoid becoming easy targets.

Eventually the gunfire died down as we eluded their range. As planned back in the trailer, Kyo and I stopped running when no more shots followed our footsteps. We silently scanned the trees for as far as we could see. I let out a sigh when no black-clad figures appeared.

"Come on, we should circle around, find the others," Kyo suggested.

"If we head back to the RV we have the best chance of getting to the mountain."

"We also have the best chance of getting shot. We shouldn't head in a straight line. Hieln and Jongu went to our right. We should make a wide path to find them."

As I agreed, and uneasy feeling settled in my stomach.

**~PRESENT~**

"We shouldn't have trusted them. We went out there unprotected and they knew it."

"Hey, do not blame Ana for this! She did everything she could."

"And it wasn't enough because no one else was willing to help her. She had to protect all three of us because the others didn't care. You've heard about the Ahada. They hate humans. They want us all dead."

"That's not true."

"Then why are we alone right now?"

**~ONE HOUR EARLIER~**

Kyo and I had been walking fine, la-di-da, when two figures emerged into my light of sight and all of a sudden I was being pushed down into the undergrowth. Kyo crouched next to me as the figures came closer and closer and...

Oh, thank god.

Hieln and Jongu recognized us in the same instant that we recognized them. I waved and stood up, following Kyo to where they stood.

"Hey, it's a good thing we found you guys," Jongu greeted. "I thought we would get lost in this place."

"Have you seen any hunters?"

"No," Hieln answered. "It doesn't look like they followed us."

"That's reassuring," I grumbled.

"What do you mean? We're safe if they didn't follow us," Kyo snapped.

"Please, like hunters are going to let six Ephogians get away that easily, especially armed as they are. They're not gone, just waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

That, apparently. A shot pierced through the air, followed closely by the thud of a body hitting the ground.

**~PRESENT~**

As Jongu held his sister's bleeding body, Kyo and I stood helplessly at her side, wishing for a miracle. Behind us, a twig snapped on the ground under a light footstep.

Right on cue.

We whirled around, fully expecting to see hunters. At first, that was who they appeared to be. Three figures stood before us, dressed fully in black with guns slung by their sides. Kyo and I raised glowing red fists, but the figure at the head- a short man, possibly boy- raised his hand.

"Sapoy!" _Stop!_

Kyo and I paused just before the energy bled from our fingertips. It was possible, that the hunter's knew Ephogianese, but it was also possible...

"We mean you no harm," the figure said in a young voice. He held open his palm, displaying a glowing purple A. "We are of the Ahada."

Kyo lowered his fists as his energy flickered out. "We need your help. One of ours has been shot."

The boy gestured sharply to Hieln and one of the others moved forward. "That is Basco, one of our healers. When we saw you approaching and heard gunfire from the hunters, we came to help. I presume you are here to join?"

Kyo nodded. "We wish to speak to your commander."

The boy laughed. "You are speaking to him now."

He pulled off the mask and locks of black hair fell across his face, dusting across golden eyes. I took in a sharp breath, disbelief coursing through me.

It wasn't possible.

"I am Sayo, and welcome to the Ahada."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment if you remember who Sayo is!  
> Kudo if you actually read this far!


	14. Chapter 13: Family by Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana reunites with Sayo and finally learns all about the Ahada.

I stared at Sayo, my brother, alive and well, in astomishment. How the hell was he alive? It was... just... not possible. He was dead, he died with the rest of them. I mean, I had never seen the body but-

Shit.

I had never seen the body. I had never seen him die. I had only assumed that the hunters caught up with them. Had they been alive the whole time? Right here? I could have been with my family for the past ten years.

"Sayo?" My voice came out breathless and unbelieving, which was a pretty good representation of me in general right now.

He stared at me with a pinched brow for a few moments before a look I'm sure was mirroring own face broke out over his own. "Ana? Is that really you?"

Unbidden and unconsciously, I closed the distance and wrapped my arms around him. Holy shit. I was hugging my little brother, the one I had thought was dead for a decade. His own arms came up to crush my back and I didn't care. He was here. He was alive.

"How?" I asked without pulling away.

"I was going to say the same thing," he laughed into my ear. "You never came back after following Alcent."

"I tried to find you again but I couldn't. I thought the hunters had killed you." I finally pulled away and wiped my eyes, which were  _not_ watery, thank you very much.

"Is Alcent with you? What about Mom and Dad?"

I shook my head ruefully. "They were all killed that day. What about the rest of the kids?"

"We traveled together for a while, but one by one..." He trailed off with regret coloring his voice.

"I'm glad you made it out alive," I assured him. Whether it was to dissuade the notion that their deaths were his fault or to assure myself that this was real, no one will ever know.

"I'm glad you did too. Who are your friends?"

For the first time, I remembered the three people standing behind me. "This is Kyo, Hieln and Jongu. We have four others with us but we all split up when the hunters attacked."

Sayo nodded solemnly. "They've been getting closer to finding us for months now. We were able to fight them off this time. We'll find the other members of your group. In the meantime, you should come with us. Hieln can get better treatment in our facility and you and I have a lot to catch up on."

"Yes we do."

++++++++++

The Ahada headquarters was impressive, to say the least. The entire mountain had been hollowed out through years of wind and water rushing through the many smaller caves and channels. Now the floors and walls had been polished and covered by white walling that seemed to make everything glow. The ceilings were still in their original forms but for the metal beams keeping them from caving in. The entire place had a sterile feel, like a hospital.

There were many large rooms connected by smaller hallways. Sayo showed them each to us as he lead us through to the infirmary for Hieln. There were various barracks for the soldiers and refugees to stay in and common rooms for day use. Sayo lead us past an expansive canyon that had been filled with equipment and was used for training.

When we got there, the infirmary was nearly empty, save for a few people being treated by the nurses. Hieln was immediately taken to a cornered off section of the room to be treated and we left Jongu there to wait for his sister. Kyo was taken by one of the soldiers to settle in a barrack. Me, well, I followed Sayo all the way to the precipice of the mountain where his office sat undisturbed.

Once inside the spacious study, he gestured for me to sit down in one of the plush chairs. He sat in one next to me, looking for all the world like he had never expected this moment to come. I'm pretty sure I looked the same.

"I don't even know where to begin," he said with a shake of his head.

"Then I'll start. What is this place?"

Sayo nodded, slipping into a business-like persona. "For the past six years, this has been the headquarters of the Ahada, an Ephogian army I assembled to help take care of our race and keep us from extinction."

"How did you even do  _that_?"

He smiled wryly. "With a lot,  _a lot_ , of hard work. I traveled for a long time with our group, trying to find more Ephogians to join the cause. Some were easier then others. Most of our race still harbors immense hate towards the humans and allied themselves with us immediately. Still, there were a few we came across that were content to live like this," he spat. "We were able to persuade most of them, but the ones that continued to refused," he paused and smirked darkly. "Let's just say that they were eliminated."

"You've been killing Ephogians," I stated bluntly.

"I have been protecting my cause and my people. If that means a few lost lives here and there, so be it. That is the way of war. And make no mistake Ana, we are at war."

"But where will it end, Sayo?"

He pointed at the words branded above the door.  _Mek u sumk._

"Us or them."

I was stopped from replying by someone throwing open the door. A gruff soldier walked briskly into the room, bowing shortly at Sayo. "Sir, there are two humans here requesting access. They claim to be allies."

"A boy and a girl? He's got a computer, she's got a gun and sailors mouth?" I asked as if I didn't already know the exact answer.

The soldier nodded and Sayo turned to me. "You know these people, Ana?"

"They've been traveling with me for a while now. You can let them in. They're my friends."

My brother snorted distainfully. "No human is your friend Ana. They may act like they care about you but they are never to be trusted. They want us all dead. They're all the same."

"Not these two," I promised. "Please, let them in, at least for tonight. In the morning we can talk about it more."

Sayo nodded reluctantly. "Bring them to private barracks," he instructed the soldier. "Make sure no one sees them. Not everyone will be as hospitable as me. Keep guards around them, day and night. They are never to be left unwatched."

I bit my lip to keep from protesting and watched as the soldier left the room.

Sayo sighed. "I don't know what is going on in your head, Ana. I would have thought that you of all people would know humans are the villains here. I've seen what you can do to them."

I gripped the armrest tightly. "What do you mean?"

"You killed a human when you were five years old. Just last week you killed 152 more. Yes, I know that was you. With the amount of power you used and the family connection we have, I was able to feel your signature from here. That's the kind of power I need to help me win this war.  _You_ are the one I need to win the war, my dear sister."

An odd sort of dread filled me at the dark look in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

He leaned closer. "Ana, you and I are going to wipe the humans out of existence."


	15. Chapter 14: Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana thinks about everything Sayo has said and Lily is pushed past her limits.

I paced restlessly back and forth in my assigned room. Everything Sayo had said to me bounced around my head until my temples throbbed and I couldn't see straight.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

On the one hand, part of me thought Sayo was crazy for wanting to kill all of the humans. Doing that would be mass murder, genocide. It would make us no better than them. Not every human deserved to be killed, all though some certainly did. Nate and Lily didn't deserve to be killed, or to stand by as the rest of their race died. I knew first hand how painful that was.

Still, I understood Sayo's anger and his thirst for revenge. These were the people who had stolen our planet, who had chased us endlessly and killed our family and friends. We owed it to those lost to make their killers pay. But like this? Was this the right path? Was I following my brother straight to hell?

My brother. My brother Sayo, who I believed for so long to be dead but was really here, planning and fighting a sat on top of a mountain. He was my family, and family was the most important thing in the world. Could I leave him, now that I had finally gotten him back? How could I abandon him when he needed me?

All these questions were making my dizzy. I sat down heavily on the bed provided for me. Without my constant restless footsteps, quiet filled the room.

It didn't last long. Only a few seconds had gone by before my door was flying open, banging into the wall so hard I was pretty sure it would leave a dent. That didn't matter though, because Nate and Lily were flying in after the door, safe and sound. The three of us met in the middle of the room in a quick group hug, which Lily didn't even protest.

A guard came running in only a second later with his gun raised and ready to fire, but I held my hand up to stop him.

"It's okay. I want to see them."

"In case you didn't catch on, _they_ didn't want _us_ to see _you_ ," Lily spat. "They wouldn't let us leave the room, so I punched the guard and we ran here."

"You always do make great first impressions," I teased. "But how did you even find my room?"

"We installed a tracking device in your head a week ago," Nate deadpanned seriously.

The guard growled and made to raise his gun again but I cut in. "He's kidding."

I looked to the both of them for conformation and got twin noncommittal shrugs in reply. Great.

"I want to speak with them alone," I demanded. After a moment of reluctance, the guard nodded and left. Apparently, being the leader's sister had its perks.

Lily stared after the guard until the white door slammed shut. It was just like the rest of the room, white, plain, sterile. I didn't like it, and I wasn't the only one.

"This place gives me the creeps," Lily grumbled. "It's too clean, like a mental ward."

"Someplace you're well acquainted with, I'm sure."

"Funny. Now stop stalling and just tell us what's going on."

Shit. They didn't know any of what happened. They didn't even know Sayo was alive. I'm not sure Lily knew he had existed in the first place.

"Kyo and I found Jongu and Hieln in the forest. One of the hunters shot Hieln. She's in the infirmary now."

"I'll be sure to send her a care package," Lily drawled impatiently. "Get to the parts that matter."

I took a deep breath. "We were approached by three of the Ahada, one of whom is the commander. He's also my brother."

"Sayo?" Nate asked in shock at the exact same time Lily blurted out, "The hell?"

"Sayo is alive," I told Nate. "He's been moving around and building this army the whole time."

"Will you hold on a second?" Lily demanded. "You have a brother?"

I nodded. "We were separated about a decade ago and both assumed the other to be dead. Obviously, we're not."

Lily shook her head in disbelief. "You know, this entire thing just keeps getting crazier." She waved her hand, dismissing that train of thought. "So what happened with the long and lost?"

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed heavily. "He gave me a quick run down of the Ahada, it's mission statement, which is basically to destroy the human race." Sayo's words rang in my ears. "Mek u sumk. Us or them."

"What do you mean 'destroy the human race'?"

I stared at Lily blankly. "I think he means destroy the human race."

"Just checking."

Nate stared between us. "I'm assuming he wants to take back the plant for the Ephogians."

"And he wants me to help."

Lily scoffed. "So that was the part when you signed him up for therapy?"

I looked down at the ground almost guilty, but what did I have to feel guilty for? I hadn't made a decision yet, and it wasn't Lily's place to judge me whenever I did make one. Nate looked down too, already catching on that I hadn't made up my mind yet.

"Ana," Lily started slowly, "please tell me you understand how crazy that is. He can't just wipe out the humans."

"Well, why not?" I snapped, not really sure I allowed my voice to act.

"Why not?" Lily barked back. "Because it's genocide! It's insane! Not to mention statistically improbable!"

"The humans did it to us!"

"And that means you can do it to them?!"

"It was _our_ planet!"

"You can't possibly be naive enough to believe the Ephogians were the first ones here! Open your eyes Ana. The Ephogians came one day and took it from someone who took it from someone else and so on and so on since the beginning of time! And guess what! One day someone will come and take it from the humans, but it will not be you. Your race had its turn. Learn to share."

I stared at her angrily for a moment before moving closer, into her personal space, curling up to strike. "You're people killed millions of mine. Do you expect me to just let that go?"

"Considering it was millions of years ago, _yes_!"

I shook my head at her. "You don't get it. The humans took everything from me, my family, my home. I have a shot at getting that back."

"In case you forgot, I also lost my family and my home, but my life was taken from me by Ephogians. Would that justify it if I decided to kill every single one, you included? Make no mistake Ana, Nate and I won't be spared because of your sentimentality. We'll be dead with the rest of them."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. We were both treading on thin ice. "Lily, I haven't made any decisions yet regarding how I feel about all of this and what I'm going to do. All I do know is that I have a blood duty to stand by Sayo and support him. I can't leave my brother, not again, not after so long without him. I need to know now if you are going to stick with me."

Lily stared at me blankly. She measured her words carefully, speaking in a voice that betrayed no emotion. "Ana, since I met you I have come to not only tolerate you, but I actually like you. If I'm being honest, you're kind of like my sister now, the sister I chose. So there's not a lot on the list of things I wouldn't do for you. I'd die for you, and I almost did. I would and have killed for you. I've even eaten at some sketchy places for you and trust me, those were no real burgers.

"But genocide? Killing millions, billions of mostly innocent people? That doesn't make the list. There are many humans out there who have hurt Ephogians and there are so many more who have hurt other humans. There are plenty of us who don't deserve to die. There are some of us who didn't even get a chance to decide whether they're good or bad yet.

"So if you're asking me to stand by while you burn my race into the ground, I won't."

I looked away angrily, glancing at Nate. He was silent this whole time and now he stared at the floor between us with rapt concentration. I looked back on Lily, who met my gaze with a challenge in her eyes. It was my move. We both knew where this was heading, I just had to get us there.

"Then leave."

The challenge in her eyes faded away into acceptance and Lily turned to walk out of my room, and probably my life. I wish I didn't grieve.

Nate stood and we looked at each other. I no longer tried to hide the pain in my eyes. He would see right through it. My feelings were mirrored in his face.

"I know you have to go with her."

"Leaving Lily on her own never turns out well."

I tried to smile at his joke. It didn't work well. Nate walked over and pulled me into his arms tightly. I hugged him back.

Into my hair, he whispered, "We may not agree with you and we may not support you, but we still love you."

Then he left too and I was stuck there wondering if I had just lost my family all over again.


End file.
